I don't know what the heck Fonda Lee put in this, but it's damn good.

So ends my journey of reading The Greenbone Saga (although I might pick up the novellas), and what a wild ride it has been. Fonda Lee just writes phenomenally—the prose isn't lyrical in any way but neither does it feel juvenile. The world building is so incredible that I almost feel like if I turn the TV on to the right channel I would see news about No Peak and Mountain politics, or perhaps a Sinjo film. The characters are so well-realized and nuanced and believable. All the forms of political manuevering that take place in this story were so intriguing and perhaps equally as tense as the action scenes were.

I don't know how else to describe it, but I feel like The Greenbone Saga is greater than the sum of its parts. Each of the books were purposeful, and while they drove the narrative differently with each book, it all felt very cohesive and intentional. In the end, you're left with one sweeping family saga that explodes with its impact.

What made this book for me were the character arcs and relationships. There were so many emotional scenes that will stick with me for a long time. And while I'm not sure how I feel about the multiple time skips and there were some short stretches where I was confused by the more complex discussions taking place, Fonda Lee does such a great job of balancing the politics and the character work that even though I didn't fully grasp what was going on in some parts, I still deeply cared about the characters.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: this renders itself to be excellent source material for an HBO series adaptation. All the ingredients of a strong story and successful show are here: a straightforward plot, excellent worldbuilding, sex scenes that actually serve a purpose, memorable characters, exciting action sequences, and intense dialogue.

Highly recommending this to anyone who asks me for a solid adult fantasy series.